 Vanessa Fletcher with a flounder. Photo by George Goodson.
Submit your photos by emailing them to Saltwater@MyFWC.com. Learn
more about our photo guidelines.
Commission Meeting – April
Information: The FWC Commission will
listen to public testimony on and discuss several marine fisheries management
items at the April 25-26 meeting in Fort Lauderdale. Please visit MyFWC.com and
click on “FWC Commission Meetings” and the link under “Next Meeting” to see
the agenda.
Potential
regulation changes (final decisions on these topics may be made at this
meeting):
-
Gulf red snapper: Proposal to require for-hire
operations who fish for reef fish in Gulf state waters and do not have a
federal reef fish permit to report their intention to harvest certain species of
reef fish. This presentation will also include an update on recent federal
discussions about red snapper, Florida’s proposed fishery management pilot
program, and the 2018 recreational harvest season.
-
Tripletail and sheepshead: Proposal to extend
FWC’s current and proposed rules for both species into federal waters, to
increase the minimum size limit for tripletail, to reduce the daily
recreational bag limit for sheepshead, and to create a vessel limit of 50
sheepshead for recreational harvesters during the peak spawning months of March
and April.
-
Gulf Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ): Proposed
federal consistency action that would allow the FWC to enforce federal
commercial IFQ regulations in state waters. (This item is currently slated to be on
the Consent agenda and may not include a public comment period at the
Commission meeting.)
-
West Bay oyster harvesting restrictions:
Proposal to prohibit harvest and possession of oysters within the West Bay
Estuarine Habitat Restoration Project boundaries in Bay County. (This item is
currently slated to be on the Consent agenda and may not include a public
comment period at the Commission meeting.)
Discussions:
-
Sharks: Review and discussion on various
shark-related topics including the shore-based shark fishery.
-
Goliath grouper: Review and discussion of
biology, stock assessment results, and stakeholder views. Staff will seek
Commission direction on management priorities, which may include limited
harvest.
- Federal fishery management updates
Links for more information:
Agenda
[MyFWC.com]
Spiny Lobster
Season closed April 1
Information: Recreational
and commercial spiny lobster seasons closed April 1 and will reopen Aug. 6. The
two-day recreational sport season is the last consecutive Wednesday and
Thursday of July, which is July 25 and 26 this year.
Links for more information:
Spiny Lobster [MyFWC.com]
Gag Grouper – 4-county region
Season opened April 1
Information: The recreational harvest season for gag grouper
in Gulf state waters off Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties opened April 1.
This region will remain open through June 30 and includes
all waters of Apalachicola Bay and Indian Pass, including those in Gulf County,
and all waters of the Steinhatchee River, including those in Dixie County. The
season off these counties also opens to recreational gag grouper harvest Sept. 1
through Dec. 31. State waters in the Gulf are from shore to 9 nautical miles.
The minimum size limit is 24
inches total length and the bag limit is two per person in Gulf state waters.
Link for more information:
Groupers [MyFWC.com]
Permit
Season closed April 1
Information: Permit
season inside the south Florida Special Permit Zone closed April 1 through July
31 to protect aggregations of spawning fish. The month of April was recently
added to the spawning closure.
Links for more information:
Permit [MyFWC.com]
FWC needs your feedback
Information: FWC
is collecting feedback on several fisheries issues including bay scallops, shrimp,
and trap fisheries.
Provide comments on these or other fisheries online at MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments.
Link for more information:
Saltwater Comments [MyFWC.com]
Saltwater Angler Recognition Programs
Catch a Florida Memory today
Information: These three programs encourage ethical
angling while earning rewards for your efforts.
- Saltwater
Fish Life List: A list of 71 different species. Can you catch them all?
- Saltwater
Reel Big Fish: Recognition for extraordinarily-sized catches.
- Saltwater
Grand Slams: Earn rewards for catching three different specified species
in a 24-hour period.
Link for more information:
CatchaFloridaMemory.com
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